That’s the message of the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) spring enforcement blitz, a two-day traffic enforcement initiative being hosted by the Moose Jaw Police Service (MJPS) and involving officers from various municipalities and regional authorities including the RCMP and CN Police.

“It’s a multifaceted event about informing the public about the rules and regulations, educating them about the expectations from them, and it’s also about enforcement,” said Sgt. Cliff Froehlich with the MJPS. “It’s a three-pronged approach, which is what we feel works best for getting drivers to adhere to the regulations.”

The program, which began on Wednesday, also runs throughout the day today. It involves four stop-checks throughout the Friendly City, said Froehlich, with both uniformed and plain clothes officers spotting driving infractions before the stop-checks and flagging drivers to be brought in.

According to Froehlich, the most common infractions the stop-checks see are “the same ones the public witness day-to-day.”

“People running stop signs, not wearing their seatbelts, or using cell phones while driving,” Froehlich said, are very common.

Others that are common, but tougher to spot, are vehicle registration violations: people driving unregistered vehicles, or driving on suspended licenses.

Enforcement exists to keep people safe, but Froehlich said understanding of the rules and expectations is equally important.

“The laws are put in place for a reason: to protect everybody out there. Not just the person driving a vehicle, but everybody around them, as well,” he explained.

He figures most drivers who break those laws don’t set out to do so.

“People are in a rush, they get into their day-to-day routines, and sometimes they forget or just aren’t totally focused on their driving at that time,” said Froehlich.

“This program isn’t a trick or a trap of any type,” he said. “We’re just here to enforce.”